Return of the Droids
by Vangran
Summary: A large fleet of droids vanished towards the end of the Clone Wars. With this fleet went the CIS' top captain with an order to prepare for a war unlike any ever seen before. But when that war comes, where are they? And what secret does the captain hold? Indefinite Hiatus
1. The Secret Apprentice

New Jedi Order Era

Return of the Droids

Rated T for now, may be subject to change.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of, or related to, Star Wars, beyond my OCs and the plot.

Begins during the Clone Wars, right before the Battle of Coruscant.

The Secret Apprentice

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

It was dark when Captain Skyran Nelross walked onto the command bridge of the _Ravager._ His crew was working diligently when the holo-projector came on line and the image of Count Dooku appeared before him. Skyran knelt before the image in reverence.

"Lord Paxis," the count began, "You are to take what forces you have and rendezvous with the 11th fleet. From there you will proceed to the Nelroon system in the Unknown Region and make a base there until such a time as we recall you to the known sectors."

Nelross looked up at his master in confusion, "Master, is something happening that I am unaware of? Have the Jedi won the advantage or is your own master making moves that you feel are not in the best interest of the C.I.S.?"

Count Dooku paused for a moment, "I am unable to answer that, but needless to say things are not going well. I also want you to pick up the remains of Sev'rance Tann and begin the cloning process, we need her and her tactical data in case the Chiss move against us and her knowledge of the Decimators the Republic failed to keep in their possession. We need that weapon on our side, as it very well might win the war for us. You must not fail me, my young apprentice. I await you on Geonosis."

"Yes, my master. I will see that it is done."

When Count Dooku's image faded, Captain Skyran rose to his feet and started barking out orders, "All hands prepare for hyperspace travel! Navigation! put in the coordinates that are being forwarded to you now! Put all droid fighters on standby! I will be up to the bridge soon, I want us out of this sector and on route to Geonosis by the time I arrive. "

"Yes sir!"

The sound of droids and crewmen moving to get the orders carried out echoed throughout every corridor and hallway of every ship under Nelross' command.

With a sigh he rose to his feet and re-clasped his cloak. He didn't like the feeling of urgency that had underlain his master's voice as he issued the order.

Stepping out of the holo-chamber, the young dark lord made his way to the bridge, dodging droids hurrying to carry out their tasks.

Walking through the halls, he went over the conversation with his master in his head. The order to remove himself to the Unknown Region was alarming enough by itself but that he was to take the remains of Sev'rance Tann? That was on a whole other level. _What could trouble Master so much that he would have me take my forces beyond the Republic? Is something brewing that I have not foreseen?_

As he thought this, he stepped onto the bridge and walked up to the command chair where he sat down. Looking up he stared out before him and only just braced himself before the ship jumped to lightspeed. He had a lot to think about before he got to Geonosis.

It was two days later that the Confederate fleet left hyperspace and arrived just outside of Geonosis' gravity well, a transmission was received. Static sounds over the speaker, before they hear a Geonosian instruct them to send over their identification codes.

With a nod toward the communications droid, it was done, and he was on a shuttle down to the surface to oversee the transfer of Tann's DNA and whatever else the Count might wish to talk about.

As he stepped off the shuttle, he was greeted by a small battalion of Super Battle Droids and he was ordered to follow them to where his master was waiting.

When the group came in sight of the meeting place, Skyran spied a lone figure, as soon as he identified who it was through the Force, he rushed forward and knelt before him.

"Master," he said reverently.

Count Dooku motioned with his hand, "Rise, my apprentice, we have much to talk about. Some things have changed in your mission that required I have you meet me here. The war is not going well on our side, and I feel that my own master is soon to betray me. So I require of you to take something more to the Unknown Region." By this point the group had walked to the entrance of the nearby facility. Darth Tyrannus motioned for Darth Paxis to follow.

"We have much to talk about, and not enough time. The Republic is gaining ground, and even though the Jedi numbers are dwindling, they are still great enough that we will soon be overwhelmed."

"But Master, surely things aren't as bad as you say? The Republic is not so well equipped that they could take down an untiring army of battle droids."

"You are right in that, however, their leader is another matter entirely. Chancellor Palpatine is a wily one, and will stop at nothing to see us defeated, but he does not do it with pure heart. He intends for our defeat to benefit him, and I have the feeling that the time is near at hand. I have… seen things. Things that will come to pass that I am loathe to allow to happen. A force will come from beyond Unknown Region, and attack all known space, no one will be free from their touch.

"That is why you must go. You will confront them and halt their plans of conquest. In this you must not fail me. By the time this occurs I will be long since dead and the Confederacy finished. You will be my sword and shield. I will give you the means to resurrect me and Sev'rance Tann, but she must be brought back first. A recording has been uploaded onto your personal datapad for when you have met the unknown aggressors. Understand this, my apprentice, the battle with the clones is nearly over, the war for the universe is just beginning. You will be in command until it happens."

Nelross bowed his head in acquiescence, "I understand, Master. I will see that it is done."

Count Dooku nodded his head in acceptance, "Good. Now, everything you will be taking should have been loaded onto the ship by now, and that is your queue to leave. I must return to the Invisible Hand. I expect a transmission to be received by the time I have come out of hyperspace that you are on your way."

"It will be done, my master."

He motioned with his hand, "Now go, the fate of the Confederacy is in your hands now."

With that, the two force-users returned to their individual ships and jumped to hyperspace.

Considering that Captain Nelross was now adding the 3 fleets worth of ships guarding Geonosis to his forces, it took considerably longer to make it back to his original fleets position. When they arrived, the navigators were all instructed to input the codes for the Nelroon system, which was only known to the CIS as they had a small outpost on the lone planet in the system.

By the time they arrived at the planet of Meestor, the Battle of Coruscant was already underway, the Chancellor in his chair watching as Count Dooku attacked Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Of course, while this fight was going on, the message was transmitted, but the droids on the bridge were too busy with their other orders to notice.

When the battle was over, the Invisible Hand's command deck was lying on a landing strip and the main body destroyed. And with no power, the message was lost when the bridge was destroyed so all traces of the droid armada was lost, seeing as the Geonosians were all but eradicated after the order for the droids to be shut down was given. And those that did survive had no knowledge of where the ships went, just that they left right before Count Dooku's Last Stand, as the Separatist survivors had taken to calling the Battle of Coruscant.

When the last of the droid army arrived at their destination, Captain Nelross ordered that the cloning facility be set up immediately. The cloning of Tann would take a little while, not as long as it would for the clones of Jango Fett though, because the CIS' top engineers had acquired a cloning device and, upgraded it, as it were. So what would have taken several months, perhaps even years, would only take a few weeks at the most.

And so, while the Chancellor declared the creation of the Galactic Empire, the last remnants of the CIS laid in wait. Waiting for the day when they would strike back against the Republic, and bring true freedom to the galaxy.

So, what do you think? For all of you following my other stories, I have not forgotten about them, I just hit a railroad, they won't go un-updated for long.


	2. The Lines Are Drawn

Disclaimer: George Lucas owns it all. This is the last time I put up a disclaimer, as it is tedious to do it every time._  
><em>

_Yuuzhan Vong speech_

* * *

><p>The Lines Are Drawn<p>

It was several weeks later that Commander Sev'rance Tann stepped blinking out of the cloning chamber. Luckily for the droids and other attendants that were around her, she could sense Skyran through the Force and so didn't lash out against them.

Of course, considering that he wasn't in the room and had no intention of entering it any time soon was slightly off-putting for the Chiss woman put then she looked down and realized that she was naked as the day she was born, and promptly blushed. As soon as she asked about her clothes and weapons, the attendants rushed to get them for her, obviously remembering the tales told by their fellows from when she had been alive previously.

As soon as she was dressed and was strapping on her lightsaber, Lord Paxis walked in, his Mandalorian mask glinting in the soft light of the room. He had read about Darth Revan and was familiar with what he had accomplished during the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War that followed. The Jedi didn't deserve a second chance in his opinion, seeing as how stagnate they were and their antiquated contradictory ideals. After all, you can't seek justice without emotion, for you won't recognize injustice without it. It was quite foolish of them, and he only hoped that their reign came to an end soon. The Sith were as the Force meant them to be, and the sooner they realized that he better.

"We have been waiting for you, Commander," Captain Nelross said in his rich tenor.

Seeing who he was, she immediately knelt, seeing as all those who were of the Dark Acolytes were made aware of his position as Count Dooku's apprentice. "My lord," she intoned.

He made a motion with his hand, "Rise, Commander Tann, I find myself in need of your unique talents, and that wonderful memory of yours. The Desolators are needed and we have to get the plans for them drawn up before anything can begin. This will be your task, Commander. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Tann said, saluting stiffly.

Skyran nodded approvingly, "Good, now, off with you, I will have an attendant show you to your quarters. I have other things to attend to at the moment and will contact you if anything changes." And with that, the conversation was done and they went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>With Sev'rance Tann back in the field, (technically speaking) redrawing of the Desolator plans took top priority. Unfortunately, with time being what it is, and there being no reply from the main branch of the army, Nelross had to take over as the de facto commander (not that he wasn't acting in that role already).<p>

Getting the Desolator plans remade, however, was only the tip of the iceberg. With no contact from Count Dooku or General Grievous, Captain Nelross had to make executive decisions on his own, one of them being the construction of the EG and IG-110 series. With the chance of Jedi finding them, and the warning of his master running through his head, Skyran would not take any chance of being overwhelmed having only two lightsaber users on his side. The droids lightsaber-wielding capabilities would be more than a match for the Jedi. And with the plans for General Grievous' creation in his grasp, he also began creating a new set of designs for a droid much like the General of the Separatist forces.

Hopefully, when it all settled down, when all the fighting came to an end, he would be able to sit back and relax and not worry about war and which planet and which organization sided with you. With the way things were looking, however, that was a long way off.

Sighing, Skyran stood up from his desk and walked across his room to the viewport, and looked out into space.

He had no idea where this path would take him, and he wasn't strong enough to pierce the veil that was clouding the future.

Stepping onto the bridge, he noticed his navigator standing before his command chair and frowned. Striding forward and sitting down, he motioned for the Neimodian to begin.

"Captain, we have come across a strange anomaly in a pocket of space just beyond the where we will be exiting hyperspace.

As it happened, the journey to the Unknown Region was incredibly long, and, seeing as this wasn't exactly charted territory, unsafe. So they were taking things nice and slow. Of course, something just had to happen just as they finish their jump.

Nelross sighed, "And do we have any idea what this anomaly is?"

The navigator shook his head, "As far as we can tell, sir, it just sitting there, and is making no overt moves. The scouts have set up a perimeter and will report any irregularities beyond the already observed."

Skyran nodded, "Very good, as you were."

* * *

><p>When the fleet finally exited hyperspace, the ships arranged themselves around the Ravager. They slowly made their way to the planet that was to be their base of operations.<p>

The Ravager opened its hangar and let out a small landing craft that was escorted by a battalion of fighters to the planet's surface where it immediately proceeded to head toward the only mountain on the entire planet where the advance base was located. With the CIS having decided to spread its influence beyond the known regions, they eventually came here, to the Nelroon system. As it was, there were only two planets in the entire sector and only one of them was habitable. The second was just a ball of gas, much like Yavin. As it was, the planet Nikros was devoid of all forms of life beyond some wildlife here and there before the CIS claimed it.

The mountain was void of all forms of life except for the small fortification at its base. Setting down, Skyran waited patiently for the ramp to lower and then walked out onto the planet's surface. The air was not as good quality as on others such as Dantooine and Alderaan, but it was enough to suit his needs, as he wouldn't be staying on the surface for very long anyway.

Striding forward, he walked inside the building and presented Count Dooku's command to those already there.

Construction would begin almost immediately. They really didn't have time to wait around, as they were facing an unknown threat that made even Lord Tyrannus disturbed enough to send out such a large force out to face it.

Frowning, Skyran listened to the report from his radar who had spotted a large force moving quickly through space as he watched the materials be removed from the carrier crafts and instructed those that would be staying planetside that they would be leaving presently and so anything they needed would have to be requested upon their return.

It wasn't long before the Sith Lord was back in space, ordering his forces to prepare for any possibility. They couldn't the chance that they were there for the anomaly, so he ordered the fighters already guarding it to be doubled and for the capital ships to form a defensive formation to protect the planet.

With that done, the Ravager moved to its position in the middle of the fleet, all its fighters pouring out of its hangar. Whoever it was that was coming couldn't be allowed to tell others of their location. He would destroy them before they got the chance.

* * *

><p>Aboard the Yuuzhan Vong I'Friil Ma-Nat warship <em>Legacy of Torment<em>

Deign Lian, commander of the advance force sent forth by Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane to test the strength of the galaxy that the gods had ordained to be theirs.

But all was not going as planned, for not a year after setting out from the main fleet, the yammosk picked up something they had not faced before; something unliving, but held living at the same time. This was different from when the former Supreme Commander had fought the living world, but posed a threat as the yammosk informed him that the things were unloading several unlivings, which was all it could say as whatever it was letting out had no life to them.

"Phahg," Deign swore, _"Release the coralskippers, and prepare the yaret-kors(coralskippers) and order the rest of the fleet to do the same."_

The yammosk answered in an affirmative and the orders were given, and so the First Battle of Nikros was underway.

* * *

><p>Yuuzhan Vong vocab:<p>

Phahg: swear word

Please tell me what you think!


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